Recent news

For the first time on record, the number of women in their fifties and sixties dying from accidental drug overdoses and drug related suicides is higher than that recorded for women in their twenties.

In addition to the above, figures have also revealed that the rate of deaths in older women recorded this year, is higher than the rate recorded for younger women last year – and is significantly higher than it was just a few years ago.

The Office for National Statistics who are responsible for the figures, also said that whilst female levels of drug misuse have increased, levels in males have fallen during the past year.

Director of delivery at the National Treatment Agency, Rosanna O’Connor, has said the statistics show that fewer and fewer people are now dying from the most dangerous drugs. However, she went onto say:

“It is the over-40s, typically in poor health from a lifetime’s drug use, who are at greater risk of...

Ex GMTV presenter Fiona Phillips is no stranger to Alzheimer’s after both of her parents succumbed and eventually died from the disease. During her parents struggle and now after their deaths, Fiona is more determined than ever to change the Government approach to this misunderstood and underfunded illness.

Thanks to high profile campaigns and celebrity support, today’s society is far more familiar with Alzheimer’s and dementia than it was a decade ago. Fiona however, has been acquainted with the terms for far longer, after her mother Amy suffered from dementia (the most common form of Alzheimer’s) for a decade before she was even diagnosed, eventually dying in 2006.

Looking back now, Fiona believes her mother began to change as far back as the early 1990s, but knowing very little about dementia back then Fiona and her father continued as normal. Post diagnosis Fiona reported feeling extreme guilt. Why had she not noticed? Had she done enough? Should...

New results from a major international study spark fears that teen cannabis use causes brain damage and irreversible IQ loss in later life.

A team of international scientists have been monitoring the lives of 1,000 people in New Zealand for over 20 years in a bid to find out more about the long-term psychological effects of smoking cannabis from a young age.

The volunteers were assessed as children – before any had even tried cannabis, and then again repeatedly throughout their lives until the age of 38.

The researchers, writing in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that: “Persistent cannabis use over 20 years was associated with neuropsychological decline, and greater decline was evident for more persistent users.”

Worryingly, those who persistently used cannabis (smoking it at least four times a week), suffered a significant decline in their IQ levels. Researchers also found that the...

Sex attack counsellors from the Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) have pleaded for an increase in funding after an 11% rise in the demand for support.

Last year the RCNI provided support to 2,541 individuals, an 11% increase since the previous year.

Altogether, the counsellors working at the centre provided a staggering 20,727 hours worth of counselling support to men, women and children – most of whom were seeking support after experiencing sexual violence.

The year before also saw an increase in the number of individuals getting in touch with the service, with 2011 reporting a 9% rise since the previous year – suggesting that the need for services such as RCNI is actually growing and not diminishing.

Chairwomen and director of Rape Crisis Midwest, Miriam Duffy, has urged health minister Dr James Reilly not to put a stop to the funding.

Duffy explained how it already takes a great deal of courage and strength for a survivor to...

In a new documentary BBC Newsnight speaks to parents affected by the devastating mental illness – postpartum psychosis.

As a society we are now fairly understanding of postnatal depression, but very few of us are even aware of the existence of postpartum psychosis. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, postpartum psychosis or puerperal psychosis as it is otherwise known, is a severe mental illness which develops in one in 500 new mothers and can result in suicide or them killing their baby.

Postpartum psychosis tends to develop rapidly in the days or weeks after giving birth, with symptoms varying and changing very suddenly. Depression, confusion, hallucinations and delusions are among the most common symptoms and in the presence of these psychiatric help should be sought immediately.

Women are most vulnerable to severe mental illness after giving birth than they are at any other time, yet still postpartum psychosis lies undetected in...

During times of stress (approaching deadlines, unhappy relationships, bereavement, job insecurity and the tensions of everyday life) – the tone, pitch, pace and volume of our voices can change.

A group of developers in California have used this idea to build a Smartphone application that enables users to monitor and track their stress levels over time by recording and analysing the tone of their phone conversations.

Named StressSense, this app is programmed to recognise the most common physiological changes stress induces in the voice.

To make it work, the user must first relax before recording a three-minute monologue (reading from a book, poem, magazine etc.) to teach the app what their un-stressed voice sounds like.

StressSense can then compare this recording with future recordings to identify when users experience the most stress. Users will have the option to record their voices throughout the whole day, or just when they...

New research suggests that while married men drink less than their bachelor counterparts, women who get married are even more likely to hit the bottle than the average single lady.

Researchers from the University of Cincinnati will present their findings today at the American Sociological Association.

The study, led by sociologist Professor Corinne Reczek, used results from a large-scale behavioural study combined with data from 120 interviews with married, widowed, divorced and single people across the U.S state of Wisconsin.

Overall, men (married, widowed, divorced and single) were found to drink more than women and were more likely to have a drinking problem. However, once they’d wondered down the aisle and settled happily into married life, men appeared to cut their drinking habits significantly.

Women on the other hand, appeared to drink far less even when they were divorced, widowed or single, compared to when they were...

Former singer Michelle Heaton reveals she is to attend counselling sessions after finding out she has the BRCA2 gene, which means she faces an 80 per cent chance of cancer.

The former Liberty X singer revealed earlier on this week that she stands an 80 per cent chance of getting ovarian cancer or breast cancer, and has to make a decision about whether she should have a double mastectomy and her ovaries removed in order to reduce the risk.

According to Macmillan Cancer Support, the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are those that have been shown to play a role in hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, and women possessing these genes generally have a 50 to 80% change of getting cancer during their lifetime.

If your family has a strong family history of cancer it may be recommended that you undergo genetic testing, which involves testing a living relative affected by cancer to find out which of the cancer genes may run in your family.

Mental health charity Mind have joined forces with high street suit retailer Austin Reed to launch a suit swap scheme with a twist.

‘Suits you sir!’, get suited & booted with the new Mind & Austin Reed scheme.

Charitable clothes swaps are on the rise, with Britain’s biggest retailer Marks and Spencer kickstarting the ‘buy one, give one’ trend earlier this year when they launched a charity clothing scheme. The “schwopping” scheme, as it was named, asked customers to hand over an old or unwanted clothing item to charity every time they purchased something new.

This September, mental health charity Mind will also be following suit, by partnering up with Austin Reed to promote a ‘suit swap’, in which members of the public can donate any unwanted suit to a Mind charity shop and will receive a £50 voucher in...